Rawk You Like A Hurricane

Dinner Plan for Week

2010-04-18T22:47:00.001-07:00

This is my dinner plan for the coming week. It helps me to have it planned out ahead of time.

Monday: Potato Leek Soup, Salad with Cucumbers and Chickpeas
Tuesday: Bean and Rice Microwave Casserole
Wednesday: Veggie Burger (Amy's Quarter Pounder), Cucumber, Baked Potato
Thursday: Chicken Enchilada Casserole, Green beans
Friday: Leftovers from Thursday
Saturday: Dinner at Pasta Primavera for hubby's bday

Working Mother Magazine

2010-03-19T19:02:00.000-07:00

I receive Working Mother Magazine in the mail. I didn't subscribe to it, I don't know where they got my address. It is definitely not a magazine I would ever choose to buy, even though I do work, and do plan to be a mother.

But seriously, now they just have to stop sending me this hateful garbage. Here are my three favorites from the current issue:

An advice column with the headline "Slave-at-Home Mom". Uh oh. A woman wrote in because her neighbor stays at home, and often helps out with the working mother's kids. How can she repay her? The answer begins with "Ah, the ongoing exploitation of the slave-at-home mom." Stop saying that! It finally suggests that you can help stay at home mom have a date night with her husband. This implies that A) Stay at home mom is married, B) She is heterosexual, and C) It is not ok for parents to have arrangements where they help each other out with child-rearing.

An article in the "Ages 3 - 5" section called "When Parents Fib". Ok, great, don't teach your kids to lie, I'm all for that. But it also tells parents that they shouldn't always tell it like it is. For example, "If a child does messy artwork, for example, a parent shouldn't tell him he has no talent." Wow! No they shouldn't, but that's because 3 to 5 years olds MAKE MESSY ARTWORK. Don't they?

Finally, my favorite. This is in an article about educational family vacations. "Judge a Witch Trial" in Salem. "Give kids a feeling for the era's hysteria by joining them as 'jury members' in the first defendant's trial." Oh what fun! This magazine seems to be geared towards upper-middle-class parents, so maybe they have plenty of money to take little Janie to the therapy she may need when she wakes up in the night screaming about women being tortured and drowned and hanged. Family fun! This one's got a fun photo of a woman being dragged through the street. More fun! (I apologize for the extreme blurriness.)

Tomorrow is Henna Day!

2010-03-19T18:16:00.000-07:00

I have a goopy bowl of henna and lemon juice marinating on the counter as we speak. Tomorrow I am going to use my henna from .

Over the next several months, my goals are to get my body in good shape, and to try to put natural things in and on my body. I weigh 375 as of last Sunday (down from a high of 381!) After a refreshingly and startlingly frank talk with my ob/gyn last week, I have chosen 240 as my goal wait for pre-pregnancy. This should put me in a much less risky BMI range.

I had been using Feria hair dye, which is gorgeous, but not very natural. I had wanted to try something different to keep my hair red (it's naturally a dullish red), and one day I happened to see the lovely Pure Jeevan post about mehandi.com henna. I will post before and after pictures!

Tomorrow is also weigh-in day. I have been working pretty hard, and I hope the scale is still headed in the right direction. I have some mixed feelings about weight loss, but I need to be healthy for my family, and I do not feel healthy now. I am using the Weight Watchers Simply Filling Technique, which focuses on fresh, healthy food, and small amounts of healthy oils. And I'm using the treadmill and recumbent bike.

Salty Success!

2010-03-18T17:10:00.001-07:00

I am not a great veggie eater. I like some veggies very much, others not at all. Kale and I had lately made friends by way of the green smoothie (kale, frozen mango, water, blend, delicious!). But cooked greens? Hate them.

Late last year, I was lucky enough to be invited to a small, excellent raw foods potluck. The hostess had made kale chips in her dehydrator. I had heard of these, lots of people make them, and you can even buy them packaged. They sounded horrible. They tasted great! A salty snack with no bad ingredients, based on a green veggie??

I had wanted to make some myself, but I was afraid I would mess them up. And my dehydrator is not very good. Today I finally made some of my own, and baked them in the oven. I consulted several online recipes, then did this variation of my own.

Soak four big curly kale leaves in a bowl of water. Kale can be super dirty. Rinse and dry them. Tear leaves away from the stem, and tear them in to bite size pieces. Put them in a bowl with one teaspoon olive oil, juice of half a lemon, a sprinkle of salt (I like hawaiian red salt), and a generous sprinkle of spice of your choice. I love Raw Parma Chipotle. Spread on a baking dish. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Check them and realize they have started to burn. Turn oven down to warm, cook for five more minutes. Eat them and be delighted that they seem to fit the potato chip sized hole in your brain.

This makes one big serving.

Weekly Round Up

2010-03-14T00:58:00.000-08:00

I had a bad weigh-in last week, I was up four pounds, which is about all I had lost in the last three weeks. I was frustrated, but determined not to give up, like I had before. I talked to my awesome leader about the filling foods technique. Because really I can eat a lot of bad stuff and still be within my 42 daily points. He thought it was a good idea and suggested that I try it for a week.

So I was still thinking about that. Then yesterday I went to the ob/gyn, new doctor. We are trying to conceive, the previous doctor just wanted to give me prescriptions and sent me away. I am 41, and don't have any time to waste at all. New doctor was good but frank. She advised me that (TMI ALERT!) my cycles are irregular because of my size, and she would not recommend I conceive before getting to a BMI of about 40. But, she also examined me and we talked about a lot of questions I had, so I like her.

Then I got back into the car with hubby and melted down. Just sobbed. Very dramatic.

The upside is that we went home, looked at all my materials, and we are doing the Simply Filling plan together. I am hoping like crazy that I will lose the weight in time to get pregnant, but if I don't, I'll be healthier and will be around longer for my hubby.

And I like the SFT plan a lot so far. It makes me eat lots of fruit and veggies. And I can't spend 25 points on chinese food two days before weigh in.

It is Sunday now, and I've been eating this way since Monday evening. I am really looking forward to my weigh-in tomorrow.

Here are some lunch photos of the turkey taco salad we had for lunch.

Sunday Menu Plannning

2010-03-07T13:52:00.000-08:00

I'm going to start blogging my dinner menu plans here. It keeps me organized and inspired.

Sunday Night - Coconut Curry Red Lentil Soup (from La Dolce Vegan http://www.amazon.com/Dolce-Vegan-Livin-Made-Easy/dp/1551521873/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267998848&sr=8-1 ) Sarah Kramer's cookbooks are my go-to cookbooks, since I have almost NEVER had a bad recipe from her wonderful books!

Monday Night - Sarah's Hot and Sour Ginger Soup (from Garden of Vegan
) Baked Veggie Egg Roll from Trader Joe's

Tuesday Night - Late night, I have Statistics class until 9:30, get home at about 10:30. Leftover Hot and Sour Soup.

Wednesday Night - Taco Night

Thursday Night - Leftover Taco Night! or Tortilla Soup

Friday Night - Hopefully we are going to a board game night, so we might have to grab dinner out!

The Weight Loss Thing

2010-02-10T23:45:00.000-08:00

So, Weight Watchers and I have reconciled. I broke up with them last year, because I was going in and weighing, tracking my points in a half-ass way, and not losing.
And being generally pissy about it.

Now I'm back. What's different? It's dovetailing with a twelve-step program. So far so good. I've lost a couple of pounds so far. A couple a week would be fine with me!

This, then, is my before picture, at 381 pounds (plus one chihuahua).

Fertility Talk

2009-08-22T12:42:00.000-07:00

Hubby and I have started the process of getting pregnant. I was six weeks late recently, so thought I might be pregnant. But, I was testing negative on the home pregnancy tests. My cycle has always been pretty regular, maybe one week off occasionally. So I thought, am I pregnant? Have I stopped ovulating?

I found a good doctor based on an internet list of "size friendly ob/gyn's", and he wasn't too far away, and my insurance seems to cover him. He did some tests. I am not pregnant, which is not a surprise, as the doctor thought I was not. I have an elevated thyroid, so I'm going back to see the doctor next week so that we can prescribe meds for that. My FSH was normal, so that means I'm not menopausal, I should still be making eggs. FSH is Follicle Stimulating Hormone, and an elevated level can mean that a woman is nearing menopause.

I also started Metformin last night, which is supposed to help reset my cycle. I am taking 250 mg twice a day, while my body gets used to it. It can wreak havoc on your stomach. On monday, if all is well, I will go up to 500 mg twice a day. Three days after my period starts, I begin Clomid and Prevara.

I started going to the gym with hubby last night to make myself stronger, so hopefully I am going down the right paths. I am also focusing on non-junky foods, good percentage of raw, lots of fruits, veggies, whole grains. Cutting down my caffeine, which is a big challenge for me.

I have a headache today and am congested, wonder if it's my body getting used to the Metformin.

Hope you're all having a great weekend!

Weekly Dinner Plans are Back!

2009-08-09T23:00:00.001-07:00

Lots of things going on. Tomorrow is the beginning of the Raw Fu Whole Fu 100 Day Challenge, hooray!

I'm starting tomorrow using a McDougall meal plan (drmcdougall.com if you want to check him out), but focusing on 50% or more Raw Food! I made dinner plans for the week, which I'll post in a minute. We go shopping about two days at a time, since Trader Joes is on the way home from the train station. Here's a picture of today's shopping! (Milk is for my hubby.)

This week's dinners will be:
Monday: Spicy Tomato Couscous with kidney beans, big salad
Tuesday: Leftovers from Monday
Wednesday: Rainbow Skillet Medley
Thursday: Leftovers from Thursday
Friday: Bean and Corn Enchiladas http://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2008nl/jan/favorites.htm
Saturday: Leftovers from Friday
Sunday: Polenta with Mushrooms

DIY Soda for Summer!

2009-07-12T18:29:00.001-07:00

Did you ever wish that you had a cheaper, healthier alternative to coke and Diet Coke? Did you know that Coke is the drink of the Death Squad? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HFZ3cH1UAI

Well you do have an alternative. Yes, of course you could drink water, but sometimes it does not hit the spot for me. So what's a thirsty person to do? Easy peasy.

1. Take a mason jar or other container, and put two tea bags in it. Use any tea of your choice. I like the Tazo Passion Tea for this. Fill it with water, place in the fridge and wait two hours or more.

2. Remove tea bags. Now you have a strong concoction that you can use as a sort of soda concentrate base. I use about 1/4 base to 3/4 seltzer water. Pour over ice. You can mix it with non fizzy water if you prefer. Garnish with a slice of citrus if you're feeling fancy.

3. Drink, repeat, be refreshed.

July Issue Rawks!

2009-07-03T20:15:00.000-07:00

First, the Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale in San Francisco earned $3000 for animal groups last weekend. I am very happy to have donated some whole wheat chocololate chip cookie squares! Kudos to the awesome people who organized it so that people like me could drop off cookies and feel warm and fuzzy all week!

The July Issue of Rawk You Like a Hurricane is shaping up to be exciting! Articles about prenatal yoga with the awesome yogaformommies.com system, waste-free lunch, adding raw food side dishes to healthy vegan dinners, meal planning, Health at Every Size, my break up with the weight loss industry, reviews of delicious Zukay dressing and more! Will I be pregnant before the July issue is complete? Maybe not, but I'll keep you all posted!

Bake Sale Sunday!

2009-06-26T23:30:00.000-07:00

I am excited! This weekend, I am baking some vegan chocolate chip cookie bars to take to a vegan bake sale to benefit animals. A year ago, I would have wanted very much to do this, but I would not wanted people to say, "Oh, of course the fat girl made cookies." Now I think "Yeah, the animal-loving girl (who happens to be fat) made cookies because she cares." That makes me very happy. And I'm confident in my cookie bars, because I'm using the chocolate chip cookie bar recipe from How it All Vegan. One year I made these and gave them out in little individual containers for Xmas, and people loved them. They always turn out well. Yay cookies! Yay animals! Yay changing perceptions and rejecting limitations!

I'm also going back to Belly Dance classes in less than a month. This is daunting, but I have always enjoyed it before. I am almost always the biggest girl in the class, but teachers have always been cool (with one notable exception who need not be named).

Have a great weekend everyone. It's Pride Weekend here in San Francisco, and I am proud to be part of the diverse Bay Area. Cuz hey, there are people that think fat people shouldn't have families too. Everyone should have fair treatment.

Dinner Plans for Week of 061509 to 062109

2009-06-14T22:49:00.000-07:00

Monday Night - Veggie Fried Quinoa with Baked Veggie Egg Rolls
Tuesday Night - Burnin' Butt Burritos from Garden of Vegan with Corn
Wednesday Night - Veggie Pizza Salad
Thursday Night - Tabbouleh, Hummus and Pita
Friday - Hongshao Dofu with Broccoli and Rice from Please Don't Feed The Bears
Saturday - Black Bean Soup from Moosewood Restaurant
Sunday - Chef's Choice

Mushroom Couscous Success

2009-06-13T20:18:00.000-07:00

Woo hoo! I was trying to recreate a mushroom couscous dish that I previously made from a boxed mix. Through the magic of the internet, someone else had already done it! I used way more mushrooms, and Mr. Monster said to post that he RAVED about it. Hooray! http://vegfrugalhousewife.com/2008/05/11/curried-mushroom-couscous/
Thanks vegetarian frugal housewife!!

I also made Sunny Shiitake Carrot Salad from Frank Giglio's Raw For All book. It was delicious. I recommend this book, and will be reviewing it in the next zine. You can check out Frank Giglio here: http://rawfoodfrank.wordpress.com/purchase/

Yoga and Dinner Plans for Week

2009-06-07T22:21:00.000-07:00

I picked up a book today called Mega Yoga by Megan Garcia. It's yoga for larger people, with modifications. I did the 30 minute sequence today, and it was good. Challenging, but my muscles feel good. My quadriceps feel like they worked hard. Her website is here if you want to check her out: http://www.megayoga.com/index.php

Dinner Plan for Week of 06/08/09 - 06/14/09

Monday, which is now Mexican Monday! Mexican Pizza, Corn and salad. Mexican Pizza is an old recipe I have in my recipe box. You just cook 3 oz of soy taco crumbles for a minute, add 1/4 c salsa and cook five more minutes. Spread a 6" corn tortilla with 1/2 cup refried beans, top with soy mixture and 2 TBSP cheese (optional, or soy cheese for me). Bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Serve topped with 1/2 cup lettuce, 1/2 cup chopped tomato.

Tuesday is Israeli Couscous with mushrooms and broccoli, cooked in veggie broth.

Wednesday is Microwave Lentils and Rice, from Garden of Vegan.

Thursday is Leftovers.

Friday is Big Bowl of Miso Noodle Soup from Garden of Vegan.

Saturday is the WTF "Chik'n" Wings from the PETA book that I didn't get around to making this week.

Sunday is open for chef's choice!

Cooking Up a Storm Saturday

2009-06-06T23:25:00.001-07:00

What a lovely Saturday. Woke up late, did yoga with the hubby. Went to farmer's market at BART station, it was only so-so. Made Puttanesca Scramble and toast for breakfast (with Iced coffee of course). Recipe here: http://theppk.com/blog/puttanesca-scramble. We gave it two thumbs up. Didn't take a photo of anything today, just ate it.

Went to dog park, always a good time. There was a very sweet little girl there who was totally in love with all the dogs. She kept calling Gomez and he would jump on her lap and she would squeal and say, "He's a cuddler!" every time.

Came home, chilled out. Made Polenta Croutons (YUM!) and caesar salad with Living Caesar Dressing (both from Eat, Drink and Be Vegan, linked in earlier post). I loved the dressing, hubby not so much. I think I'll definitely make it again to take to work. Also made mixed berry cobbler. Used the recipe from Vegan With a Vengance (altered the peach cobbler recipe). It turned out very well. Lots of cooking and homemade eating today. The link to Vegan with a Vengance is here: http://www.theppk.com/veganwithavengeance.html. I've made several recipes from it, and they were all good. Can't wait to see Isa's new Brunch book.

Then we watched Murder My Sweet on dvd. Excellent.

Movement

2009-06-03T23:29:00.000-07:00

Didn't think about calories today. I did think about movement. When I got home, hubby and I did the evening segment of the Plus Size Pilates dvd. Then I rode my recumbent stationary bike for a while. I'm aiming for consistency, for moving more days during the week than not.

No Longer Feeling It ("It" being Weight Watchers)

2009-06-02T17:49:00.000-07:00

I'm just not feeling it. The weight watchers leader at my center is one of the nices people I've ever met, but I've been doing weight watchers off and on for about twenty years. I'm just going to stop doing it. I know what to eat, I know that exercising makes me healthy and makes me feel good. I can't keep paying $40 to the weight loss industry. I just don't want to. It's a little scary to "say" this out loud.

Don't Know Beans? Now You DO!

2009-05-31T15:38:00.000-07:00

I was able to coax the pictures out of my digital camera, even though its batteries are protesting. Here is my bean photo-essay.

Do I always use dried beans for recipes? Heck no! But if I'm cooking on the weekend, I try to use dried beans. They taste better and you can feel the love. Does it matter where you buy your beans? Yes and no. I'm super in to Rancho Gordo beans right now, which I can buy at the farmer's market down the street from my office. (You can also order them online at their website, which I will link to in just a moment.)

Rancho Gordo heirloom beans are more expensive than grocery store beans. And still less expensive than meat. And they are freshly dried beans. They have not been sitting around on the shelf for a year at the store, after having been warehoused for several years already. And Rancho Gordo does some good things in this world of ours. And I have now used several packages of their beans, and I never find stones or bad beans. But I still check. You can still use grocery store beans with good results, especially if you buy them out of the bulk bin of a busy store. And yes, you can still open a can!

I used the White Tepary Beans, and made White Bean Soup with Rosemary from Dreena Burton's "Eat, Drink and Be Vegan" cookbook.

Thanks to the good people at Rancho Gordo, I now have a great bean-cooking method. I used to just boil them in a pot of water, which technically works. They cook, but they have no sass. Check out their method here. http://ranchogordo.com/html/rg_cook_beans_primer.htm. Buy something while you're there, why don't you? Their pictures are much better than mine, but here are some pictures anyway.

Here is one pound of White Tepary Beans, still in their lovely package. Note how small they are. They will double in size, at least.

This is my version of mirepoix. I don't like onions, so I use leeks instead. Here my veggies are, with garlic, being sauteed in a very small amount of olive oil.

Here is the pot of veggies, with the water added. The beans are now in the bottom of the pot. Watch the magic. (Did you know that you should never add salt until your beans are done cooking? Otherwise, they will not get done!)

The water is not yet at a full boil, but the beautiful beans are swollen with excitement and have rushed to the surface of the water. They are already a lot bigger, and they are not weird and wrinkly like some beans. I think that this is because they are not old.

This is not a great photo, because it was so steamy. Now the beans are done and delightful. The yield from one pound was exactly six cups of beans. Now just drain them and get on with whatever your recipe is!

Dinner Plans for 06/01/09 - 06/07/09

2009-05-31T15:05:00.000-07:00

So, this last week threw me a bit of a curveball, mostly because I caught a cold, and I had two audits at work, so I was stressed. I cooked some of my planned meals, but definitely not all.

I did make the Veggie Fried Quinoa, which we both liked a lot. I also made the White Bean Soup with Rosemary, which was very rich and delicious. I modified it a bit, made it slightly lower fat. I used Rancho Gordo White Tepary beans, which I will have a separate post about tomorrow, when I have batteries for the digital camera. I definitely recommend "Eat, Drink and Be Vegan" by Dreena Burton, the book that this soup recipe came from. I ordered it after hearing about it on the Vegan Freak podcast, she had me at "whole chapter on hummuses!" Here's a link if you want to check it out: http://www.amazon.com/Eat-Drink-Be-Vegan-Celebrations/dp/1551522241/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1243807827&sr=8-4

The meal plans this week: (As always I have posted links to recipes that appear online already, because I wouldn't ever infringe on a hardworking author's rights.

Monday: Tofu Tacos, from the Dr. McDougall dvd "McDougall made Simple". Recipe here: http://drmcdougall.com/mcdougall_made_easy.htm. For a side dish: roasted corn, tomato and broccoli raw salad with cumin lime dressing. http://veganagogo.com/show/corn-and-radish-salad/

Tuesday: Leftover Tacos and salad

Wednesday: Raunchy Red Lentil Soup from "La Dolce Vegan" by Sarah Kramer. Cucumber and romaine salad as a side dish. This is a great recipe and a fairly regular dish at our house. Easy enough to make on a weeknight without making me swear, tasty, healthy and cheap! Check out her cookbook here: http://www.amazon.com/Dolce-Vegan-Livin-Made-Easy/dp/1551521873/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1243808307&sr=1-1

Thursday: Leftover Raunchy Red Lentil Soup and salad

Friday: Roasted Red Pepper Hummus Pizza from "Eat, Drink, and Be Vegan"

Saturday: Caesar salad with Living Caesar Dressing and Polenta Croutons (both from "Eat, Drink and Be Vegan"). Baked Potatoes with fixings.

Sunday: WTF? Wings from the PETA's Vegan College Cookbook, you can check out the book here: https://www.petacatalog.org/prodinfo.asp?number=BK226 I'll serve these with cucumber spears and Raw Ranch Dressing. (Check out that recipe here http://raw100.ning.com/. This is my favorite place to be on the whole internet.)

I was ready to make fun of this book, because I'm kind of jerky that way, and it had a whole section on RAMEN, and I have mixed feelings about PETA. But I cannot make fun of it now that I've made the Dorm Room Shrooms. I cut down the earth balance a little, but they still tasted awesome. And I like to make something slightly junkier on Sundays, because I have my weigh-in Sunday mornings. Speaking of which, I lost one pound this week. Not bad for slacking so much on the dinners.

Next Sunday, I expect better numbers. I am staring my Walk Away the Pounds dvds again tomorrow morning.

Weekly Dinner Plans

2009-05-25T21:36:00.000-07:00

Here are my dinner plans for the week. Trying to make things "McDougall Style" wherever possible.

Monday - Whole Wheat Pasta, Marinara, Trader Joe's veggie balls, romaine salad with cucumbers and homemade lowfat ranch dressing.

Tuesday - Vegetable Fried Quinoa from Fatfree Vegan Kitchen. http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2008/02/vegetable-fried-quinoa.html

Wednesday - Leftover Quinoa. Going to dentist for a crown, may not feel like eating.

Thursday - Pizza on whole wheat crust with marinara, portabello mushrooms and olives (no cheese).

Friday - White Bean Soup from "Eat, Drink and Be Vegan" by Dreena Burton

Saturday - Veggie Burgers (probably these: http://happyherbivore.com/2009/01/balsamic-portobellos/) with corn and a cooked veggie.

Sunday - Leftover White Bean Soup

We went to a lowfat vegan brunch this Sunday, and had a good time. We didn't know anybody, which always makes me shy and nervous, but everyone was nice and the food was good.

General Personal Junk

2009-05-10T18:49:00.000-07:00

I recently had to do some re-evaluating and honest thinking with myself. I had joined the Raw Fu challenge that started in April. This is the second 100 day challenge that I joined, full of intentions of being 100% raw. And failing, over and over, and feeling awful. And eating things that really emotionally hurt me in many personal ways.So I had to decide that instead of trying to be 100%, freaking out, feeling like a failure, and BINGEING over this, I will be 25 - 50% raw, which I can really sustain. I'm at a solid 25% right now. The remainder is vegan low-fat goodness. There are lots of reasons, such as money, my level of obesity, poor teeth, etc. But really, I just wasn't making any headway. So here I am. And I lost some weight this month and I feel good.

Also, speaking of Raw Fu! goodness, the first issue of the amazing Raw Fu magazine recently came out, and it's gorgeous. Check it out!

May Already?

2009-05-10T18:46:00.000-07:00

I bought a new cookbook and checked a cookbook out from the library this weekend, so I'm cooking up a storm this weekend. I bought Peta's Vegan College Cookbook, even though I'm not exactly college-aged. It had some good, fast recipes.

Last night I made "Stuffed Dorm Room 'Shrooms".

Here is the recipe, adapted. (I'm hoping PETA wont' mind me sharing, since I'm saying it's a nice cookbook!)

1/2 lb medium-sized mushrooms, washed, with stems removed and saved
2 TBSP vegan margarine (recipe called for FOUR TBSP)
1/4 c. chopped chives
3 TBSP breadcrumbs

Arrange mushroom caps, hollow side up, in a single layer in a baking dish. Set aside. Chop up mushroom stems and combine with margarine and chives in another dish. Nuke, uncovered, 3 - 4 minutes, stirring twice. Add breadcrumbs, stir, set aside. Cover mushroom cpas and nuke 2 - 3 minutes, until nearly cooked, rotating dish 1/2 turn after first minute. Stuff each cap with some of breadcrumb mixture. Cover and nuke 2 minutes, til hot. (Serves four, but I had it as an entree, so we each had half.) It was fast and easy too! I recommend it.

Tonight I have a veggie curry in the crockpot from "Fast From the Vegetarian Slowcooker" by Robin Robertson, and it smells great!

Snowflakes of the Vegetable World

2009-03-31T23:11:00.001-07:00

What's for Dinner?

2009-03-31T21:08:00.000-07:00

I've had a couple of great raw dinners lately. I had Rawdawg Rory's Cucumber Noodles Aioli on Saturday and Monday. You can see him make it here http://raw100.ning.com/forum/topics/andres-revenge-rawdawg-rory

The "cucumber bread sticks" are great too. I made them with the weirdly tasty raw parmesan chipotle stuff (it's made of almonds not parmesan).

Tonight I made the Creme a la Mushroom Soup from "Alive in 5 - Raw Gourmet Meals in Five Minutes" by Angela Elliott. It makes three servings, so I figured I'd eat half and see if the rest would keep for tomorrow's lunch. Oops, maybe I'll snarf the whole recipe up, making yummy noises. It tastes a lot like the crap in the red and white can I've always loved. And while I think it was a LOT of fat to eat at one time, it made me happy. Her book is here: http://www.therawdivas.com/angela/

What did youhave for dinner?

Issue #1 of New Zine

2009-03-25T21:41:00.000-07:00

Hi Friends! Issue #1 of Rawk You Like a Hurricane - The Years of Living Changerously is here! If you were someone or something I wrote about, a copy is on the way to you via snail mail. If you would like to receive a copy, send me $1 in cash or postage, or something in trade, a recipe, a picture of your dog, your zine, a VitaMix blender, anything! My address is: Jenni Smith, 101A Hickey Blvd. Suite 464, South San Francisco, CA 94080. Eventually I will load a pdf to a free zine library if you just want to see one.

Here is my cover, in glorious black and white! Thanks to everyone who has been interested and/or supportive, I appreciate it. I can't wait to make the April issue.

What a Difference a Dog Makes

2009-03-19T19:06:00.000-07:00

This weekend, hubby and I went to the Anarchist Book Fair in Golden Gate Park. It's an event we enjoy a lot every year. Lots of interesting folks doing interesting things. One challenge that we have is shyness, we often see people we would talk to, but are not brave enough to start a coversations.

Well, this year, we brought Gomez to the book fair, as it is a very dog-friendly event. He had a great time meeting other dogs and people, and a lot of people chatted with us because he is such a cute and friendly little guy. And he is not shy at all! He even jumped in to the guy's lap at the ALF table with no provocation at all.

I love to pick up people's zines, and the favorite that I came across this year was "Rad Dad". I've heard of this before, but haven't seen it. It is very beautiful and well written.

Tomorrow is the first day of Spring, and the first issue of Rawk You Like a Hurricane will launch. I'm excited for this personal project. I had it all written up and illustrated last weekend but did not get it copies. Also, once I figure it out, I will upload it to http://zinelibrary.info.

Ronco Dehydrator in Action!!

2009-02-22T18:35:00.001-08:00

Those are just stray flax seeds on the counter, not a dirty kitchen.

Turning 40 is Confusing

2009-02-22T14:49:00.000-08:00

Yes, that is correct. I turned 40 this Friday. I didn't expect to be freaked out by it, but I was. I lost my younger sister about four years ago, and sometimes that makes otherwise happy events very difficult for me.

But I made the best of it. Got a new haircut. (I cannot think with so much hair, and there is an awesomely good Supercuts a block from my work.) Went out for dinner with my mom and hubby.

Lots of things in the works this year, and I'm excited about that. Nutrition and health are biggies so that we can conceive this year. For the past couple of weeks I really lost sight of eating healthfully. I'm back on track as of Wednesday. Eating veggie, working on incoporating more raw. Using Angela Stokes' RevitaLive videos, which are very helpful with some of the emotional stuff.

My awesome mom and my husband's awesome mom gave me some birthday love in my cards, so I am finally the proud owner of a Ronco food dehydrator, yay! I have my first batch of carrot crackers dehydrating as we speak. I am excited about having these to take to work with raw soups or salads. My energy is better all day at work when I have a good lunch. I'm having some difficulty with coworkers not coming in to my office to ask me to take calls or appointments while I'm eating, so I think I'm going to try to hide in an empty office this week to have lunch.

Here is a nonsense poem I wrote the day before the big 4-0.

Para Mi, Para Ti, Party

The year of living changerously
The year of living strangerously

Feeling amorously
Loving clamorously

Cake shaking
Baby making
Thirst slaking

Mid life mysis
Rolling big dices
Sipping Lemon Berry Isis

Rosemary, you were only half right. This is a dream, and it is really happening.

Freaky Dream Du Jour

2009-02-17T08:52:00.000-08:00

I had this dream last night: My hubby and I lived and worked in the Capitol building in Sacramento. One night I was hanging out with my cat in the ballroom, which was across the hall from our bedroom. This cute baby in old-fashioned clothes was crawling around and playing with the cat. She was quiet but a very smiley and friendly baby. Not weird at all. Then I went in to the bedroom and told my hubby to look at the cute baby. He said "What would a baby be doing here at night, unattended?" I turned to look at the baby, and it was totally inverted, standing on its head, smiling at me. Uh oh. What we have here is a ghost baby.

I kept trying to tell my boss, Bob Newhart, about the ghost baby, but he wouldn't listen. The next day, I walked pass the formal dining room, where several old ladies were having breakfast. They were all dressed up like it was high tea. As I passed the room, I heard one woman put her hand to her ear like she was listening and turned her ear towards the ceiling. "Aren't they little DARLINGS?" she cooed. I went in and said I was sorry to interrupt them, but had they seen any babies? The woman smiled and said, "In a way dear. Listen." and looked at the ceiling. I heard a strange sound upstairs. She explained that the capitol was full of ghost babies, and they were all running around upstairs. There you go. THE CAPITOL IS FULL OF GHOST BABIES. Clearly not a dream about fertility fears, right?

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!

2009-02-14T17:36:00.000-08:00

Lots of good things brewing. Starting to use my "Yoga for Indie Rockers" DVD again tomorrow. I've had it for several months, but only used it sporadically. It hurts, but it will help. It will be part of the fitness section of the new zine. I'm really excited about the zine, it will keep me focused, and will give me something positive to do during lunch time at work (aside from trying to figure out how much iced soy latte I can drink without barfing).

Making falafel for me and my sweetie for dinner tonight, and then we will watch Bordello of Blood and eat brownies.

Bounding towards Fitness!
Jenni

Now Coming to You in E-zine Form

2009-02-12T22:45:00.001-08:00

I am turning my journey in to a zine. For many reasons. But it will be fun reading

My new zine is about one funky fat girl's journey to health and eco-friendly life. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, I will explore vegan lifestyle and raw food lifestyle experiences, both at home and away. My first issue will come out in early March, where I will distribute them at the Anarchist Book Fair in San Francisco.

My mailing address is: Jenni Morrison-Smith101A Hickey Blvd, Suite 464South San Francisco, CA 94080 If you know anyone who would be interested in having me review products of a green nature, or who would like to give an interview, I'm all ears. Peace and punk rock,Jennirawkyoulikeahurricane.blogspot.com (still in the early stages)

I want to look at many different facets of a healthy and fun life. I will definitely be reviewing the lucious adult video Voluptuous Life (pictured above), which I was delighted to receive as a review copy. It is a super sexy empowering good time!

I'm excited!!!

5 Year Musings

2009-02-08T13:26:00.001-08:00

Five years ago, I didn't have anyone to love romantically in my life. At 34 years old, I wasn't looking for a life-partner. I'd dated for many years, and never enjoyed it the way some people did.

Five years ago, I went on a first date with a charming teacher/writer/poet that I met online. We met in front of the Women's Building in San Francisco's Mission District. "Maybe Logic" the Robert Anton Wilson film, was showing as part of a film festival. Afterwards we had burritos at a taqueria and talked for hours. We have not been apart much since. Within weeks, I knew he was not the usual person that I met.

Two years ago, we got married on Halloween in Las Vegas, and that is a special anniversary of course.

But tonight is our date-a-versary, and I feel very lucky every day to have found the love of my life.

Good Food Day

2009-02-02T21:08:00.000-08:00

Today I ate really healthy foods, and I am very happy about that. I often pack good foods, and I get really stressed out at work because coworkers fight with me, and I go out to lunch. Today I didn't cave. I'm using the Angela Stokes "RevitaLive" plan (mostly) so I won't post recipes.

At home, I had a green juice. It had no fruit, and it was pretty assertive tasting, but it made me feel good to start the day with. The plan also called for chia water, but I didn't have chia seeds. (Until I got home tonight and my seeds had arrived from TheRawFoodWorld.com! Yay!)

For lunch I had an awesome salad. I have a little bamboo cutting board and ceramic knife that I keep in my desk, so I can cut my veggies right before I make the salad. The ceramic knife is a little scary. I'm used to using a pretty dull knife at home, so when I sliced the avocado it went right through the pit. Yikes!

For dinner I had a raw soup and red bell pepper flax chips (the HuuRaw brand). I couldn't believe that it filled me up, I couldn't even finish the bowl.

The Good, The Bad, and the Sleepy

2009-01-17T14:12:00.001-08:00

Hi Everyone. I've still been plugging away at incorporating raw foods. On Sunday, I am starting a 7 day detox that I found on the Raw Diva website. I printed out the optional meal planner, and I'm about to go spend an uncomfortable amount on organic produce at Whole Foods. But I am very excited about this new step.

I pick up raw packaged products very infrequently, mostly because they're so expensive, and I'm not usually anywhere that has them.

Here are two I tried in the last month:

HuuRaw Chips - Bell Pepper Flavor from Thrivin' Edibles. These are very tasty, savory chips. I like them a lot. Just a couple of them really satisfy my "salt tooth". I'm attaching photos at the end.

Raw Revolution Organic Live Food Bar - Spirulina & Cashew. I love the raw foods community, so I am reluctant to dis anyone's product, but I really couldn't eat this. It was a crazy blackish green color from the spirulina, which is actually a plus for me. But it was so very oily to the touch that I couldn't dig it. Didn't taste good either. Sorry Raw Revolution people!

And finally, here is a sleepy cat picture.

Focusing on Positives

2008-12-29T22:01:00.000-08:00

Today was the first day that I focused on 50% raw. I'm using Karen Knowler's transition plan for beginners. I highly recommend her ebook "How to Get Started with Raw Foods". I printed it out, put it in a 3 ring binder and went through it cover to cover this weekend in preparation. I also re-read Angela Stokes' ebooks "Revealing the Physical Changes" and "How to Go Raw for Weight Loss". Then, I also started listening to Kevin Gianni's four part lecture "7 Steps to Optimal Health". Part one is about goal setting, and it was very valuable for me.

The yummiest thing I had today, which I never tried before, was half a melon blended into a smoothie, all by itself. Delicious. I'm not going to detail all of my food, because it is Karen Knowler's copyrighted material, and a lot of work obviously went in to it.

I did have cooked dinner, as planned. It's hard for me not to say that I should have been MORE raw today, but that' ridiculous, because I was only planning for 50% for this first phase. I'm trying to learn to be easier on myself, and to focus on the positive.

Because I like to look at pictures, here is a picture of the yummy spiced fresh apple juice I made for Christmas.

Unamused Cats

2008-09-23T22:18:00.000-07:00

We are not accustomed to our new brother. He is smelly and loud.

It's Animal Day!

2008-09-23T22:15:00.000-07:00

Here is our newest family member Gomez!

He is an adopted three year old chihuahua mix.

Here is an action shot, he's an action dog!

Smoothie 2 of 14

2008-09-10T19:17:00.000-07:00

This one looks really gross, but it's good. Strawberries, spinach and a spoonful of Trader Joes "Greens" powder.

Smoothie 1 of 14

2008-09-07T16:39:00.000-07:00

Here is my green smoothie of the day. I know, I know, it's not really green in color, but it's still a "green smoothie" because it has two big handfuls of baby spinach in it. It's very purply because of the blueberries.

It is sitting next to a pumpkin that my hubby grew in the garden, awwww, cute!

Green Smoothie Challenge Part 2

2008-09-07T11:21:00.000-07:00

The Green Smoothie Challenge is starting again! If you're not familiar you can check it out here: http://www.greensmoothiechallenge.com/site/index.php

Anand and Runi are very interesting and generous people who have putting these challenges together. They've revamped the website for this new challenge and it looks great! So for the next two weeks, I'm having my green smoothie! (I have it pretty frequently anyway, I'm definitely a fan of the green smoothie.) Today's smoothie is pretty simple but tasty. Fresh organic blueberries and spinach and water. Hello antioxidants, roam around inside my cells, and take fistfuls of toxins when you leave, ok? Thanks!

In other news, I was up 0.3 pounds at weigh-in, which is kind of stupefying to me, but I was eating terrible foods prior to this week, so maybe my body is still catching up. On the other hand, still no conclusive proof that I am *not* pregnant...

Sick Saturday

2008-09-06T17:59:00.000-07:00

Long time no bloggy. I am working on recovering from a nasty cold right now. I guess the long work hours finally caught up with me, so I am promising myself that I will only work five days a week from now on. At least, at the office. I want to spend more time working with my lovely hubby on Big Ole Face Full of Monster, our fun magazine (gomonstergo.com).

My 100 raw days is not really happening as consistently as I wanted it to, but I'm eating more veggies than I was when I started! I don't really see myself ever being 100% raw. I have to admit that it may not be right for me, at least not now. I get a little obsessed with food, especially the more I restrict it, so I have to be careful.

In non-food related news, am I preggers? Who knows. The magic stick says NO, but I am about a week late. I'd like to be preggers, so I think I'm going to start charting my cycle finally. Unless of course, it turns out that i'm already pregnant!

I got myself a ticket to meet Sarah Kramer at her book release event in San Francisco in October. She's kind of a hero to me, I think she's very inspirational and fun, so that is very exciting for me. If you don't know who she is, and you like vegan food, check out her three books, How it All Vegan, Garden of Vegan and La Dolce Vegan. They all have great recipes that everyone likes when I make them. The hot and sour soup recipe is a regular on the menu at my house.

Soup Success!

2008-08-22T22:48:00.000-07:00

I had a better day today, foodwise. Not everything was raw, but a lot was. I started the day with a banana/strawberry smoothie that I made at home, I had a Swampmonster Smoothie (apple juice, pineapple, banana, spirulina and E3Live Powder) from the juice bar, raw veggie sushi.

For dinner I looked at a couple of different raw tomato soup recipes and tinkered around a bit. I put one big chopped tomato, one chopped red bell pepper, one tiny cucumber, about a tsp of miso paste and half of an avocado in my little blender. It was great and very filling.

I took it in to the computer room to take a picture and the cats thought they wanted to smell it. Here is a photo essay called: Cats Hate Soup!

Thanks Kevin Gianni!

2008-08-17T22:53:00.001-07:00

Kevin Gianni and his wife Ann Marie are awesome. If you haven't checked out his show, at renegadehealth.com, you should. A few weeks ago they had a recipe for portobello steaks with veggies and pinenut cream sauce on top. I made it tonight and the hubby and I dug it. I hope he doesn't mind me posting my picture of it, which is here:

After dinner, I prepared for the week by making four green lemonades to freeze. I just can't seem to always get it together in the morning, so frozen is good enough. Here is a quart and half of lemonade!

The recipe is from Natalia Rose's Raw Food Detox book, which I'm using a lot right now. I need to do this in stages or it doesn't work so well for me. I kind of fell off of the wagon HARD while I was in vacation, but now I'm back to my commitment of at least 50% raw for the rest of the 100 days.

Have a healthy day everyone!

Jenni

2008-08-05T19:51:00.001-07:00

I just created a huge post and accidentally deleted it. So I will just show you my crazy submission to the Raw Fu Green Smoothie Mustache Contest. Why am I making this face!

I've eaten about 50% raw for the last five days and I'm happy about that!

We leave tomorrow for Hawaii! I've never been, hooray! There will be photos when I return!

RAW FU Journaling Rules! (I found my lost post!)

2008-08-05T19:43:00.000-07:00

Bunny Berry is a genius. She made us all this great little workbook to download and printout as part of our first mini-challenge (Day 1 through 10 of 100 days). There are 10 little circles, about the size of a quarter, and each day you're supposed to doodle something in the circle. It's so cool, it's a teensy journal. Here's what my circles say for each day!

Mmmmm, Citrus Surprise Smoothie!

Yee-Haw, Nut Milk and Raw Cacao Mmmmm

Big Salad saves the day!

Raw donut holes are crazy! Mmmmmm!

Raw Donut Holes = New Wheaties!

See, they're like crazy headlines for the end of each day. I love it.

I made raw donut holes last night from the Ani Phyo cookbook (thanks for getting it for me Sweetie!!). They were good, but my tiny magic bullet blender was not up to the task of grinding almonds in to powder or chopping dried pineapple. When I tried to chop the pineapple it made a horrible smell. When I took the blade off, the bottom was so hot it burned me. Sorry little blender. But they were tasty. Even tastier left over for breakfast.

I said to my hubby "Oh no, this is exactly the kind of halloween treat that kids hate isn't it!?" Yes, I'm that person now. Too bad, I like eating a natural goodie!

Chia Cereal = Kind Of Creepy

2008-08-02T20:58:00.001-07:00

I so wanted to post a glowing review of the Ruth's Hemp Food Chia Cereal. It tastes fine, it sticks with me like oatmeal would, but it's really a little gooey to take. I know that it's chia seeds do, but I prefer a green smoothie to the goo. I will use up the bag, maybe it will grow on me.

Have a great day!
Jenni

Day 1 of the Raw Fu Challenge

2008-08-01T23:17:00.000-07:00

Day 1 of Bunny Berry's Raw Fu Challenge! I did well, I have to constantly remind myself that my goal is 50% or more raw, so 50% is still great! (And way more raw than I was before.) I started the day by throwing two very ripe peaches, half a frozen banana and a bit of water in the blender and drinking it before work. Yummy! But not much staying power. I had some iced herbal rooibos tea instead of my usual coffee and two donuts for breakfast. I'm not kidding. The lack of caffeine combined with work stress made me start to feel like hell, so I ate some raw almonds mid morning and had a grapefruit, mango, banana apple smoothie, which was so very tasty.

I did eat some other things that were not raw. But at dinner, half my plate was raw veggies. This is very good for me!

I hope everyone had a great day 1!!

Jenni

Ch-ch-ch- chia or What's for Breakfast?

2008-07-27T22:39:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone. I went to Whole Foods today and picked up a few things. I was looking for plain raw chia seeds to make an amazing looking chocolate pudding that someone posted. I found raw cacao powder (which appears to be pricier than heroin), but they didn't have plain chia seeds. The guy working there found this stuff in the cereal aisle called "Chia Goodness". It's a raw cereal, cranberry ginger flavored. It was $6 (!), but it says that the bag has 11 servings. I'll let you know how it tastes. You just mix 1/3 cup of water with 2 TBSP of the chia cereal and let it sit for five minutes. The website for the company is www.ruthshempfoods.com, if you want to check them out.

I'm going to have it with a banana. What are you eating for breakfast?

Safe Foods and Goals

2008-07-24T22:06:00.000-07:00

Howdy everyone. I'm still gearing up for the Raw Fu challenge. I read this story twice in one week, so I'm going to blather on about it. I checked out one of the "Chicken Soup for the Soul" books from the library, because I like to be inspired, to warm the cockles of my sticky black heart. Anyway, there was this story about whales at Sea World type places, and how they train them. (I know, Sea World, not so nice.) But the way they train them is to first set a goal that there is no way they cannot achieve. They couldn't fail if they wanted to. They put the rope or line or whatever they jump over way under the water, so the whales just swim over it. Then they reward them like crazy. And gradually they raise the line until they can jump way over it. Every jump, huge praise and love and rewards. If they don't do it, no punishment, no mean looks, just no response.

Then, I got this story AGAIN in my email. So I started thinking about setting a small goal this week. In BunnyBerry's awesome week one raw fu workbook, she has us set a week one goal. Even though the challenge starts August first, I set a goal on Monday. I decided to write down every single thing that I ate this week. (I'm trying to lose some weight so I can be healthier and so I can get pregnant, so journalling my food is a good thing.) Then, I almost set a hard goal, like at least 50% raw! No matter what! Rawwrrrrrrr! Then I thought about the whales. So the other goal that I wrote down is this. I will take a green highlighter every day and highlight every raw thing that I ate. I won't make frowny faces or write that I suck next to the non-raw foods. And I like it. Because I can't fail. Some days have more green ink than others. It's achievable.

Finally, I'm drinking a sort of raw yummy dinner, because I just got home from work. (My lovely hubby is watching a scary show, and I can't watch it before bed, so I decided to write something.) Anywho, last night I soaked an ounce of raw almonds in some water, with a few raisins and some yerba mate tea. I meant to blend it all up to make a nut milk tea thing this morning, but mornings are difficult. So when I got home, I took out the tea bag, and drained off the tea (bummer, but it's almost time to sleep, and it has a little caffeine), added some soy milk and a handful of cherries and blended away on my trusty crappy blender. Yummy almond cherry stuff. With nut bits. But very yummy.

See you all tomorrow!

Moderation!!

2008-07-22T20:16:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone! I am very excited that Bunny Berry's Raw Fu 100 Day Raw Food challenge is starting on 08/01/08. I tried to be 100% raw yesterday to see how it went. It was not the best day of the month to do this for the first time, if you know what I'm sayin', and I think you do.

I even babied myself and purchased some things from the Power Source Juice Bar near my work. It is the only place that I have found in San Francisco's financial district (the fidi, if you will) that is raw friendly if you want more than a plate of romaine lettuce and a wedge of lemon. I had a swampgrass smoothie in the morning, which I LOVE! I really like wheatgrass, and if you blend it with yummy fruit and spirulina, I'm all over it.

I went back to the same place for the Power Source Power Food Salad. Tons of spinach, with broccoli sprouts, hemp seeds, carrots and raw walnuts. With a yummy balsamic vinagrette on the side. I was even enjoying eating outside, instead of at my desk, until it became so windy that my spinach leaves started blowing away.

And I had a carrot juice in the afternoon. So I'm feeling pretty awesome, and then I get home. I was planning to have zucchini noodles with raw tomato sauce. I've made it before and like it. But the thought of the zucchini was making me feel queasy. I think I was just hungry, because by the time I was done making dinner for me and the hubby, I felt awful and sad and mad. I had a bowl of fresh mushrooms with chopped tomatoes and half a smushed up avocado. None of which tasted good until I put a little salt and hot sauce on top. Later in the evening I had some sourdough toast, which is not raw, but I felt gross and the toast made me feel better. Today I am only doing about half raw, and I feel much less creepy. I need to ease into this.

How was your healthy day??

Independence from Feeling Bad!

2008-07-05T17:36:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, that's cheesy. Here's the deal. Still no working webcam, so I'm just going to start blogging here without videos. The fabulous Bunny Berry is starting a new 100 day raw food challenge on August 1. I am going to do it too! You in virtual-land will help me keep accountable. (Even though there are only a couple people reading, it will help me!)

Tomorrow, I'm starting to transition, because I know that if I jump in to 100% raw, I'll do it for one day, freak out, cry and eat a plate of nachos. No, I am not kidding.

Luckily, the internet can be a great source of free info if you dig around a little. Karen Knowler, http://www.therawfoodcoach.com/, has some nice free things on her website. I downloaded and printed out a transitional planner to help people ease into raw. So I am sticking my toe in the ocean people! I hope it's ok with Ms. Knowler if I talk about her planner here. If it isn't, I will remove it of course. I will be modifying things, because our work weeks are very busy here for me and Mister Monster and there is no way that we are making complicated meals each night! (We are also on a super limited income right now.)

Here is the meal plan I am making for tomorrow.

Let's see, raw muesli is on the menu for tomorrow. Using the magic powers of google, I found a recipe, but I have tinkered with it to get this:

Jenni's Monster Muesli
1 apple, chopped
1 TBSP raw sliced almonds
1 TBSP raw cashews
2 TBSP raisins
1 cup of strawberries (defrosted from frozen)
1/2 frozen banana, blended in the magic bullet with a splash of soymilk to make a thicker soymilk conoction.

I will pour the banana soymilk over everything else. I'll let you know how it goes!

Lunch is going to be pasta salad, with whole wheat pasta, "raw ranch dressing", not my own recipe, and lots of chopped up veggies.

Dinner is going to be cooked veggie soup with sprouted bread and salad. I'm going to make the Tortilla Soup from one of my favorite cookbooks, The Vegetarian Mother's Cookbook.

Have a healthy day, and I'll see you tomorrow.

New Lunchtime Adventures

2008-06-05T22:05:00.001-07:00

First, thanks to Anand and Angela for leaving such nice comments. I appreciate it!

Yesterday, I had mango, spinach and banana smoothie, which is just about my favorite. (There's a green juice I like even better, but that's different.) Today, late waking up again. Grabbed an odwalla superfood smoothie at the coffee shop. Not as good as a real homemade fresh smoothie, but it was green!

Lunch was great. I brought a bunch of different veggies from home and cut them up at my desk. I had belgian endive leaves, and I put bits of avocado and tomato on top, with a squeeze of lime juice. Yummy! And some mini bell peppers. I did add a few wheat crackers, but it was mostly raw veggies.

Meanwhile, at home, my husband is experimenting with lots of different homemade pickles. He has them for lunch with some fresh fruit.

I'm looking forward to weighing in on Sunday. It's not the only reason I'm trying whole, raw foods, but it is a big reason for me.

Have a healthy day!
Jenni

p.s. Hopefully videos on youtube are coming soon. We bought a super-cheap $10 digital camera and it doesn't work. :( It was all we could afford, so no videos yet. If anyone reading this has had success with an inexpensive webcam, please let me know what you use.

Day 2 - In Which We Learn the Value of Waking Up On Time

2008-06-03T21:38:00.000-07:00

Day two of my journey towards better eating. My goals this week are simple: have a green smoothie or green juice every morning. Next week I'll add on. If I have more raw or vegan goodness, I'll talk about that too.

I overslept this morning, which meant I did not wake up in time to make my green smoothie. Bummer. I knew there was a juice bar called "Power Source" which I had seen near my office. So I found it on the way in. I was afraid it would be Jamba Juice like. It was pleasantly more hippie-esque than that. Once inside, I almost caved and ordered a delicious fruit smoothie. But I ordered the "motor oil" juice instead. It had beet, spinach, carrot and celery (and parsley maybe) juices, mixed together. Yummy. But $4.50? I could make a week's worth of green smoothies at home for that. Such is the Financial District.

My hubby made great veggie dinner too. We had the hot and sour soup recipe from one of the Sarah Kramer cookbooks, which is always popular with us.

Tomorrow I'll get up in time to make my green smoothie!

Have a healthy day!
Jenni

A Kale-y Good Morning!

2008-06-02T12:03:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone,

This is my first post here. I will accompany it by videoblogging when my camera arrives, so anyone can see my journey.

I am Jenni. I am a 39 year old office worker, living in the Bay Area in Northern California. I live with my amazing hubby and our two cats. He is a teacher and also puts out Big Ole Face Full of Monster, our fun horror magazine that you can check out at www.gomonstergo.com.

So why am I here blogging, and why is my blog called "Rawk You Like a Hurricane"? Many reasons. I've been very fat for most of my life. As I march into middle age, I want to get healthier and we want to get pregnant. I've been venturing into some raw foods, inspired by the beauteous Bunny Berry at http://bunnyberry.blogspot.com/, Philip McClusky at www.lovingraw.com and a few others. Some how my interest was peaked after reading something from the Anarchist Book Fair this year and finding these two websites.

I'm not 100% raw, and I don't know if I will be. But I lose weight and feel good when I eat more raw foods. For the second time, I am using the Green Smoothie Challenge to challenge myself as I start. You can check it out at http://www.greensmoothiechallenge.org/. Nothing to buy, just nice people helping other people get healthy, two weeks at a time. I started it last week, but missed two days, and started again yesterday. Yesterday's smoothie was two big handfuls of beautiful salad greens from the farmer's market that included edible flowers, a peeled orange and two bananas, whirred up with a splash of water. It looks awful, but tastes good, and gets you through your math homework on a Sunday afternoon!

Today's smoothie is a handful of kale, a banana and a half a handful of frozen mango, with a splash of water. Not as tasty, but makes me feel good. If you don't have a fancy expensive blender like the vita-mix, kale can be hard to blend entirely well. My magic bullet does the job, but there are little bits of kale floating around.

And it's called Rawk You Like a Hurricane because the Scorpions do indeed rock. Have a healthy day everyone. More tomorrow!

Jenni